All 3 Uses of
proportion
in
Crime and Punishment, by Dostoyevsky
- Avdotya Romanovna was remarkably good looking; she was tall, strikingly well-proportioned, strong and self-reliant—the latter quality was apparent in every gesture, though it did not in the least detract from the grace and softness of her movements.†
Chpt 3.1proportioned = made appropriate in size, amount, or degree
- You are nervously irritable, Rodion Romanovitch, by temperament; it's out of proportion with other qualities of your heart and character, which I flatter myself I have to some extent divined.†
Chpt 6.2 *out of proportion = not appropriate in size, amount, or degree
- And he suddenly felt that his uneasiness at the mere contact with Porfiry, at the first words, at the first looks, had grown in an instant to monstrous proportions, and that this was fearfully dangerous.†
Chpt 4.5 *
Definitions:
-
(1)
(proportion as in: the proportion of females) relative amount, quantity, or collectionThe exact meaning of this sense of proportion is subject to its context. For example:
- "The female proportion is 50%." -- percentage or share
- "The proportion of oil to vinegar." -- ratio (quantity of something relative to the quantity of something else)
- "In the survey, the female proportion said..." -- group
-
(2)
(proportion as in: a problem of large proportion) size or dimension
-
(3)
(proportion as in: respond in proportion) appropriate in size, amount, or degree